Workmen's advocate., 1887-02-12
THE OBJECT OF THE LABOR
 MOVEMENT.
RH JOHN JAKOBY.

two words the object of the great eos operative body which we call the State is sharply and clearly formulated. But how are Protection by the State and Advancement hy the Stat" to he under stood; The dcspot calls himself shield and protector of the people, and war i, praised as a means of promoting Civili- zatlon. I'pIu rcIllm rOrubHin dnG3Sinl,ts, the right names of things are lost to lls The more need then to specify the sense in which the terms are here used,
 'Protcclion by the State" means the duty of the whole body of persons as scmblcd and united into State to pro tect each individual in the free dcvelop- mcnt an employment of his power 80 | far as the like freedom of others is not | thereby interlorcd with.
 But with mere Protection the duty of | the State is not exhausted, however | the politician may prefer to limit it | thereto. The reciprocal advancement of tn" members of the State must be | added.
 Under promotion by the State we un~ d"rstad the duty of the whole commit nlty tO step in with it's means wherever the welfare of the individual does not suffice to obtain hlm life worthy of human being
 As Protection by the State corresponds to the principle of Liberty, and Ad- 'ancem"nt by the State to the principle of Fraternity, Sc thr assurance of pro- lection and advancement to all, ''to each according to his need" meets the de mand of Equality.
 This doctrine of the object of the State is quite the same as that which 1 ex- pressed on q former occasion in the formula
 Each for all s human Right: All for each Is human Duty
 "But, someone may object, "if protcc- tion and advancement by the state are to be ailorced to all equally, why is the working class especially emphasized in the article of the Zurich constitution? Is the working class to be especially fla yored by the State, advanced at the cost of others"
 Justiliable as this objection at first sounds, it does not bear scrutiny.
 It must be remembered that the equal ity of all consists solely in every mans being protected and helped "accordmg to his need" and who can deny that at this time it isprecisely the wage-workcr who most needs protection and help?
 But wholly apart from his greater need, there Is another circumstance which, for the Present and the immed- ate Future, makes an especial considera- tlon of the working class by the State a demand of oNpatory justice.
 It k only necessary to cali to mind the genesis of what is commonly called cap ltal to make this perfectly clear. How ever the delinltlonsof Capital may differ, m this they all agree, that it is acCumu- lated Labor. applicable to further pro ductNc ends. But who has performed this labor: They, perhaps, who now control Capital Does the manulactur- CT, the merchant, the landlord owe his wealth of accumulated Labor to his own activity and the industry of hismcrstUrs? Ii is the want of capital the poverty of the toillng prolrtarians solely due to their own und their fathers fault? But If the present inequality of fortune is not solely due to the economically cor | rect action of the property holding class l and the Shittlcssness of the non possess l ing class, tu what other cause can it be l attributed? Whence comes it that Cap- l ltal ever concentrates more and more in l the hands of the small minority while 1 the mass uf Wagr-lahorcrs, despite their l industry, can scarcely satisfy their barest | needs: The reason for this can ,N Nidrnt- 1 |, fw found nowhere else than in a dis trlbutlou of the product of labor which does not correspond with the labor per i formed, which is, therefore, unjust.
 To C. coMjHHcd.
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